Pulmonary Embolism Support Group

By far the most common form of pulmonary embolism is a thromboembolism, which occurs when a blood clot, generally a venous thrombus, becomes dislodged from its site of formation and embolizes to the arterial blood supply of one of the lungs. Symptoms may include difficulty breathing, pain during breathing, and more rarely circulatory instability and death.

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libbylaz4 01/24/2016

Hi Guys, It has been forever!! Missed you all. Im reaching out in humility today. My beloved husband has recovered so well all thing considered. May 17th 2012 was the date of his cardiac arrest. After trying and trying to find and keep work I am grappling to accept the fact that basically he is "disabled". It really has me down. I guess I had been in denial for so long. He is 59 but I feel that the PE and cardiac arrest have caused some brain damage. I am certain of it. I don't want to sound depressing. He is ALIVE. But as many of you know I have had a critically ill daughter and I have been dealing with my husbands recovery too. Whilst I could not be happier that they are both alive, I am totally burned out. Out of pride I refused to seek help. I kept telling myself everything would be ok. But the fact is things are NOT ok. I have exhausted our savings, pensions,and all property. I think I am going to have to help him get disability and this is very hard for me. I am scared. Sorry for venting. I am just very very down. :(

TossNTurn 01/24/2016

Hi Libby--It really can be the hardest thing in the world to ask for help. There have been a few times in my life where needing to ask for help just brought me to my knees. It can really make you feel like you've failed and that you're weak. But that IS NOT TRUE. Admitting you need help and asking for it takes strength and, I'd be willing to bet, you'll find some strength and some solace in what comes next. Hang in there and please, if you can, don't forget to baby yourself a little bit. You deserve it.

libbylaz4 01/25/2016

Thank you very much for your support. It means a lot to me. I'll try to reach out more here as its a great source of comfort and always has been. Hope you are doing well. I am completely out of the loop!

prob 02/04/2016

I can relate a fair bit. My wife was diagnosed with stage 2/3 rectal cancer in January 2015. A scary thought at age 40. she battled all year, pre-op chemo and radiation which landed her in the hospital for 2 weeks. It was absolutely brutal. Surgery mid year to remove her rectum and place a permanent colostomy. Follow on chemo after that which also was a disaster.

So I have lived for the better part for the last year as a caregiver, managing the kids, getting my oldest off to college, cleaning cooking, doctors appointments, hospitals - all while working insane hours and dealing (or not dealing) with my own health issues.

It grinds on you, wears you down, the resentment can pop up no matter how saintly we are. Being a caregiver to someone who is disabled is challenging not just physically but emotionally as well.

So here I am with a DVT starting in october and threw a PE on Nov 7 - so I have been disabled since then and now my wife, who is still recovering from chemo has had to step in and e my caregiver.

That being said let me tell you whats worked.
We have a great support network from church. We made it known how hard it was to ask for help and they showed up with food, cleaned our home, sat with us and talked and prayed. Offered their time to take us to appointments.Without them we would have floundered.

Tracy and I started praying together and reading together. That has allowed us to be focused on serving each other and most importantly to have grace with one another.

I still havent come to terms with the disability part, i just am about to start therapy on that..

hang n there

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